Experts use critical thinking in their area of specialty, with better problem representations (schemes or patterns of recognition).

Experts work forward from the information they have. They are more able to filter extract relevant information from available data and to generate meaningful hypotheses.

Experts have become experts through extensive practice (10,000 hours) building a body of knowledge, strategies, and experiences accumulated over many years.

Experts do not tend to use knowledge of basic sciences in arriving at a diagnosis. Biomedical knowledge can be used as a check on the validity of a diagnosis. Experts can apply biomedical knowledge as needed.